Grease-separator



(No Model.)

W. J. BALDWIN. GREASE SEPARATOR.

E w T- M if mi i .12 J m M a 1 WW T TATES WILLIAM J. BALDl/VIN, OFBROOKLYN, YORK.

GR EAS E-S EPA RATO R SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.533,424, dated February 5 1895.

Application filed tim 2,6, 1894i My invention consists essentially,first, in

employing a receptacle to receive the steam, which receptacle is ofgreat cross-area as compared with the cross-area of the pipe throughwhich the steam is admitted. By this arrangement, the velocity of thesteam, while. in the receptacle, becomes very low, notwithstanding thatthe velocity in the pipe is great, so that the grease andotherimpurities have 5 time to settle into the water which is placed inthe bottom of the receptacle, and are not swept away into the outletpipe by high velocity currents of steam.

In the second place, my invention consists in employing in thereceptacle a condenser, through or around which water is flowing,

' and over or through which the steam passes.

In this manner the water, according to its well known property, takes upheat through the surface of the condenser very quickly; and thuscondenses the grease and other vaporizable impurities out of the steam;said impurities collecting on the surfaces of the condenser andtrickling down into the water of the receptacle. In this manner I amable to obtain a much more thorough separation of grease from the steam,than has heretofore been possible by any grease separator known to theart, and my experience shows that the separation is so thorough as to bealmost perfect. This perfection of separation is attained by thecondenser, for without the condenser, a certain quantity of oil andgrease is carried up by the steam from the surface of thewater in thereceptacle and over into the pipes or apparatus into which the steamgoes, the water in the receptacle not being able to catch and retain allthe oil and grease; but by causing the steam, as it rises from the water(or even passes through the receptacle) to come boiler.

Serial No. 515.665- (Noinodel) into contact with a condenser, this smallresiduum of oil or grease is precipitated and separated from the steam,so as to leave the steam practically entirely free of all oilor grease.

Where this apparatus is used, the purified steam as it leaves theseparator can be condensed in heating apparatus, and then returned tothe boiler without danger of carrying oil and grease with the steam intothe The water of the condenser also having absorbed much heat from thesteam can if desired be used for various purposes.

Referring to the drawings which accompany the specification to aid thedescription, Figure 1 is an elevation of a preferred form of theapparatus. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3is a cross section of the same, on the line a: w of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is across section of .a separator showing a modification of thecondenser.

The receptacle A of the separator can be of any desired shape, and isconveniently made as a cylinder of boilerplate with flanged and rivetedheads B B, 0 being the steam inlet and D the outlet pipe, and providedas desired with suitable valves. The cross-area of the receptacle A ismade many times greater than the area of the pipe Cor D, (in practiceeven from sixty to one hundred times greater is advisable.) Thus even ifthe steam is flowing at a very high velocity through the pipe 0, itsvelocity in the receptacleA will be but a small fraction thereof, andtherefore the steam will be moving toward the out-let D with a verygentle velocity which will give the grease and other impurities time tosettle into the water W in the lower part of the receptacle and will notlift them again into the outlet pipe D. I find, accordingly that thisarrangement gives excellent results, but I have much improved theseparator by placing in it a condenser E, which is constantly vcooled bya current of water entering by a 5 pipe F and passing out by a pipe G.Said condenser may be similar to any surface condenser, the particularform and construction being immaterial, and a very good kind ofcondenser is that shown in Fig. 2, which con- 10o sists of a shell withheads E E through which pass tubes f f. The water flows around thetubes, in the space between the same and the shell, while the steampasses through the tubes, though of course the opposite arrangement ofthe water flowing through tubes and steam around them could be employed.

A T-shaped overflow pipe H connects by bends and branch I with the blowout K, which in its turn is tapped into the bottom of the receptacle A,said pipes I and K being each provided with valves; Said overflow pipe Hdescends about half way below the normal water level in the receptacleA, so that the grease floating on the top of the water cannot enter saidoverflow pipe, (Fig. 2.) The branch h of said overflow H is open toprevent siphonage. A gage M may be placed on the receptacle A.

N N are skeletonized standards to support the receptable A, the pipes FK being'led through them as shown.

P is a manhole to permit inspection of the receptaclei The operationwill be readily understood. Steam entering by the pipe 0, goes first tothe water W, which takes up much of the grease and other impurities. Thesteam then rising goes through and over the condenser E, which rapidlyabsorbs heat from the steam, condensing the remaining grease and otherimpurities which collect in the tubes'ff and on the other surfaces ofthe condenser, and trickle'down into the water W; the low velocity ofthe steam in the receptacle A allowing them to do so. The purified steampasses out by the pipe D to the coils of heating or other apparatus. Asthe condensed water from the steam rises to the level of the water 'j inthe receptacle A, it overflows by the pipes H, I, to the blow off tank(the valve on pipe 'I being normally open while that on pipe K isnormally closed), and said pipe H descending about half way below thelevel of the water WV the grease from the surface of the water will notenter the tank.

Whenever it is necessary to blowout the receptacle A the valve on pipe Iis closed and that on pipe K opened, and the steam in the receptacle Asweeps the contents at a very high temperature into a blow off tank, notshown as forming no part of the present invention.

The condenser E, shown in Fig. 4, consists of two' boxes 1, 2, connectedby tubes 3. The water flows through the said boxes and tubes, while thesteam passes around them. The operation of the separator is similar tothat just described.

Now, having described my improvements, I claim as my invention- 1. "Thecombination in a grease separator of a receptacle for the condensewater, provided with inlet and outlet, a condenser in said receptacleprovided with an inlet and an outlet whereby a water circulation ismaintained through the condenser, and an overflow from the saidreceptacle having its inlet orifice be low the normal Water level in thereceptacle, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a grease separator, of a receptacle A, provided."with an inlet and outlet for steam; and an overflow from said receptacleA having its inlet below the normal waterlevel of the receptacle andprovided with an open connection which extends to the steam space of thesaid receptacle, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereuntoset my hand,

this 13th day of June, 1894, in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM'LI. BALDWIN. Witnesses:

BERNARD J. BEOKE,

PATRICK A. FAY.

